


As long as you're by my side, I can endure it

by Galrafloofandlove



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Flora & Fauna, Crying, Fluff and Angst, Hallucinations, Keith (Voltron) Has Abandonment Issues, M/M, Poisoning, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 02:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18540616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galrafloofandlove/pseuds/Galrafloofandlove
Summary: Keith's Galra genes can be good.Or they can completely screw him over.In the event of a flower poisoning him and causing rashes on his arms, legs, and face, it seemed today was a screw over day.The cure would give him hallucinations, but it was needed for Keith to survive.Curse his Galra genes.





	As long as you're by my side, I can endure it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fandoms_Everywhere_United](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_Everywhere_United/gifts).



> Happy birthday Kerry!!!!

Forest planets were usually a problem, one way or another. 

Allergies were one issue. Sometimes Coran would have medications to help the watery eyes and sneezing.  
Even so, it wasn't something Keith needed to worry about. Galra had allergies to some foods, but not to pollen. 

However, where the Galra genes helped him, they also hindered him in ways Keith could never have imagined. 

Which brings him here, off the main road from the rest of the group to check out a back entrance to the main city.  
On the way, he fell into a small hole where the ground seemed to cave in the second he put his foot on it, and was dropped into a bed of flowers nearly seven feet under the ground. 

Flowers Keith knew. Flowers he'd seen in his blade training. 

Kungila. It directly translated to ‘spotted poison’ in some ancient language. 

It was a beautiful flower. Swamp green in color, almost like algae. The roots winded around the elongated heart-shaped petals, showing their dominant role in keeping the entire flower alive. 

The stem felt like silk to the touch. Nature's purest form of irony, if Keith said so himself.  
It was a mud-brown, the flower itself trying its hardest to blend in and camouflage. It usually failed, however, due to how different each planet was that it grew on. 

But today, it didn't cloak itself under a veil of secretly. 

It was simply hidden under a trap. 

The trap was probably set up by the planet's inhabitants for Galran soldiers. The flower only injured Galra, after all.  
But it backfired, thanks to a Paladin being Galra. 

This day was going swimmingly. 

You could never layer up for to protect yourself from a Kungila. No matter how many clothes you had on, the chemicals would eat their way through it without actually damaging the cloth.  
It was focused on eating one thing. 

Galra blood. 

Of course, over the years, his ancestor's bodies adapted appropriately. Their skin couldn't be eaten away by the toxins.  
And the plant turned its own focus on irritating the skin. If it couldn't get what it wanted, it would make the victim's life miserable. 

Itching. 

Little welts and angry red rashes formed on the skin, usually only the arms and legs due to the way most armor was designed. The neck was also common, as well as the top of the chest, right above the pecs. 

Through the skin irritation, the toxins ended up entering the bloodstream alone, instead of feeding the flower. 

And the toxins could kill in a matter of vargas. 

There was a cure. A bitter liquid medicine. However, the medication wasn't anywhere near painless. Hallucinations ran through the victim's mind like wildfire, reflecting the victim's worst memories and fears. On top of the fever that resulted by the toxins infecting the victim, the flower was either deadly or the worst pain the victim had ever felt. 

 

Keith could feel the skin under his suit stinging as the flower's toxins coursed throughout him, leaving burning sensations in its wake. 

He couldn't be saved now. 

He gulped and prepared for his fate. 

The stinging reached his ears, muting his hearing and making his face break out in hives that he needed to scratch. 

 

No, he couldn't. That would make it itch more. It was like chicken pox, or poison ivy.  
He just needed to stay still.  
The flowers would stop attacking him if he stayed silent and still.  
That's what Kolivan told him, at least. 

Silent and still. 

Silent and still. 

Silent. 

And. 

Still. 

Silent-

“Keith!” 

He flinched.

“Shiro.” He choked out, not realizing how hoarse his voice was. 

“I'm coming to get you, Keith. Stay right where you are.” Shiro said from somewhere above him.  
It was probably pathetic seeing Keith like this. Looking like he was dying surrounded by a bunch of pretty little flowers. 

Somehow, Shiro got down to Keith in record time, picking him up and getting him back up to the surface. 

Keith didn't even know how they got up. 

And he couldn't seem to care. He just wanted to itch and cry and get rid of the pain and fever and he wants to throw up. 

He melts in Shiro's arms as he's carried out of the forest, into the Black Lion, brought back to the Castle and set on the comfy mattress of Shiro's bed. 

“Baby, can you change your clothes by yourself?” Shiro asks once Keith is finally comfortable. He could hold a grudge for that, but feeling anything but love for Shiro was impossible. 

He hums gently as a yes. 

 

He changes into one of Shiro's tank tops and workout shorts, exposing his red arms, legs, neck and face to the cold air.  
It burns, it stings, but he's forced to endure it. 

The medicine is held up to his lips, warm and beet red.  
He drinks it down in one gulp. 

It's almost like one hundred percent chocolate thanks to how bitter it is. It scalds the back of his throat, and he can feel it boiling in his stomach.

He lays himself against Shiro's chest, vibrations from Shiro's vocal chords calming him as Shiro hums and applies room temperature itch cream to his boyfriend's arms and neck. Shiro made sure to rub his hands together to warm the cream up before it touched Keith's skin, the ointment having been sitting in Altean medical storage for ten-thousand years. 

Neither of them spoke much. They didn't need to, really. Keith had never been good at reading emotions, but after a while with Shiro, it seemed to just come easy.  
They just knew each other. Knew each other's limits, knew when the other needed a hug and a hand. It was sort of a telepathic bond at this point, if Keith was being completely honest. 

Soon enough, Shiro was laying him down onto the bed, placing careful attention to letting his head rest comfortably on the pillow. 

“Stay.” Keith reached out blindly for Shiro with his eyes closed, just wanting to feel his boyfriend's warmth on him while he was going through hell.  
Shiro brushed back Keith's bangs, damp with sweat, and planted a chaste kiss on his forehead that Keith soaked up. The pure bliss of Shiro's love ran through his veins like lightning at the contact.  
“I wish I could.” Shiro said as he pulled away, breaking all of Keith's hopes and dreams in just four words.  
But, as stated before, there's nothing he couldn't forgive Shiro for. 

He'd always love Shiro, no matter what.  
“Coran said if I was with you, there was a better chance you'd hallucinate me.” Shiro explained further. “I don't want you to be in pain because you saw me bloodied and bruised. I shouldn't have stayed this long.” There was genuine concern in Shiro's voice, yet Keith couldn't look past the fact that he wasn't going to have Shiro singing him to sleep.  
He was in pain, he just wanted to be selfish for once.

“Fine.” Keith said finally, probably more aggressive than intended. 

Shiro didn't seem to care as he bid Keith farewell and left him in the dark, with nothing but the scent of Shiro imprinted into the blanket he was wrapped in. 

Keith fell asleep inhaling the sweetness. 

If he pretended hard enough, he could imagine Shiro was right next to him. 

That's what made him drift off, in the end. 

~~~~~~

 

He wakes up to Shiro leaning against the wall, right by the door. 

He looks angry. 

Mad. 

Upset. 

Disappointed. 

Hateful. 

Shiro smirks. 

“I should have done this a long time ago.” 

He speaks so darkly, so certain and egotistical as his boots click across the floor, and the door swishes open. 

And Shiro leaves. 

And Keith didn't even get a say, didn't even know what he did wrong. 

He didn't know what he did to make Shiro leave him, make Shiro look at him like an enemy, abandon him…

He can't stop himself from crying. 

The tears roll down his cheeks like a rushing river, flowing heavy and quick and drenching the sheets below him. 

What did he do, what did he do, what could he have possibly done that finally tipped Shiro over the edge and made him leave like everyone else-

 

“Shh...it's okay, baby.” 

His eyes snap back to reality. 

Shiro is cradling him gently in his arms, wrapping the Galra one around his stomach with the heating function set on low.  
It comforts him. 

He's safe with Shiro. 

He's still crying, that wasn't just a hallucination. He's nearly bawling, grabbing onto Shiro's t-shirt and pulling at the flimsy fabric like an upset koala.  
He's soaking Shiro's top by nuzzling into his chest for warmth and comfort. 

“I had to come back and check on you. I'm so sorry, baby.” Shiro consoles, holding him close and wiping away droplets stuck on his wet cheeks. 

“I love you. I can go if that would be better-” Shiro starts.  
“No. Stay. Just stay with me. Please, Shiro. I can't do this without you, please.” Keith babbles as the pain comes back full force, a headache hitting him like an axe to the face.  
Shiro kisses his nose, and Keith almost giggles through the tears.  
“Of course.” Shiro agrees this time, setting Keith back down on the sheets and laying down next to him.  
“I love you.” Keith says as the tears start to die down.  
“I love you too, sweetheart.” 

Keith falls asleep that time to Shiro's quiet humming. 

Even with the itching plaguing him, and the hallucinations that follow, Keith swears he couldn't do this without Shiro. 

He'll have to give Shiro a boyfriend of the year award once this is all over. 

Best boyfriend in the universe would be more accurate, technically. 

But as long as Shiro held him, Keith could endure anything life decided to throw his way. 

He was sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://galrafloofandlove.tumblr.com)! || [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GalraFloof)!


End file.
